Stephen Ward was innocent, ok : the case for overturning his conviction /
Robertson, Geoffrey.
In the summer of '61 John Profumo, Minister for War, enjoyed a brief affair with Christine Keeler...Late in the afternoon of Wednesday 31 July 1963, Dr Stephen Ward was convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts alleging that he lived on the earnings of a prostitute. He was not in the dock but comatose in hospital. The previous night he had attempted suicide, because (as he said in a note) 'after Marshall's [the judge's] summing up, I've given up all hope'. He died on Saturday 3 August, without regaining consciousness. Many observers of the proceedings thought the convictions did not reflect the evidence and that the trial was unfair, and this book will show that it breached basic standards of justice. Geoffrey Robertson brings his forensic skills and a deeply felt sense of injustice to the case at the heart of the Profumo affair, the notorious scandal that brought down a government.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. How to Quash an Old Conviction ; 2. Backstory -- Dramatis Personae : Ward, Keeler and Ivanov -- The Cliveden Weekend -- Mandy Rice-Davies -- The Count 2 Period -- Rumour-mongering -- Profumo's Parliamentary Denial -- The Home Secretary Calls the Police -- Profumo Confesses ; 3. Hunting Up Evidence -- `Lucky' Gordon : Keeler Commits Perjury -- Ward is Arrested -- The Committal Hearing ; 4. The Trial of Stephen Ward -- Keeler Testifies -- `Lucky' Gordon : Keeler Lies Again -- Count 2 -- Rice-Davies Testifies -- The Other Counts -- The Gordon Appeal -- The Summing-up -- Suicide ; 5. Grounds of Appeal -- Non-Disclosure of Keeler's Perjury -- Fresh Evidence -- Speculation about Absent Friends -- No Corroboration Warning -- No Good Character Direction -- What is a `Part' of a Prostitute's Earnings? -- Insufficient Evidence -- They Were Not `Prostitutes' Anyway -- No Guilty Mind -- Continuing in Ward's Absence -- Unfair Trial -- Abuse of Process ; 6. Over to the CCRC.
In the summer of '61 John Profumo, Minister for War, enjoyed a brief affair with Christine Keeler...Late in the afternoon of Wednesday 31 July 1963, Dr Stephen Ward was convicted at the Old Bailey on two counts alleging that he lived on the earnings of a prostitute. He was not in the dock but comatose in hospital. The previous night he had attempted suicide, because (as he said in a note) 'after Marshall's [the judge's] summing up, I've given up all hope'. He died on Saturday 3 August, without regaining consciousness. Many observers of the proceedings thought the convictions did not reflect the evidence and that the trial was unfair, and this book will show that it breached basic standards of justice. Geoffrey Robertson brings his forensic skills and a deeply felt sense of injustice to the case at the heart of the Profumo affair, the notorious scandal that brought down a government.
Ward Stephen Thomas
Judicial error
Political corruption